A settlement agreement has been reached between the Netherlands Railways (NS) and Finmeccanica, the holding company of Italian train rolling stock manufacturer AnsaldoBreda (AB), over the V250 Fyra high-speed trains dispute.
The agreement follows legal wranglings after NS stopped using AB’s Fyra trains in 2013 over cold-climate performance issues. Belgium’s railway operator SNCB also terminated a contract with AB in May 2013 for the same trains citing similar issues.
The deal is yet to receive permission from the authorities involved, but aims to prevent lengthy legal proceedings. It states that all 16 V250-trains ordered by NS will be returned to AB, in exchange for €125m to be reimbursed to NS. AB had already delivered nine of units.
The settlement will also enable AB to look for potential deals to sell the trains to other customers. If such a resale happens, NS will be eligible to receive additional payments amount per train from AB up to a total maximum of €21m.
Both parties will not make any financial claims, including supposed damages, according to the settlement.
Cassiopea Partners and Grimaldi Studio Legale acted as financial advisor and legal advisor, respectively.
Finmeccanica and AnsaldoBreda were advised by the firm De Breij Evers Boon on Dutch law aspects of the settlement.
Image: V250 Fyra high-speed train. Photo: courtesy of Finmeccanica SpA.
